I am a huge fan of Left 4 Dead,(and any game that Valve Produces for that matter) but I am also a huge retro game fan as well. So to tell you the truth when I saw this I almost couldn’t believe it, the two seemed to go together like peanut butter and chocolate, it’s truly the best of both worlds, it’s 8-Bit Left 4 Dead.

This 8-bit Nintendo style port of the first Left 4 Dead was created by Eric Ruth; a self-taught game designer who created it from scratch in his spare time. To simply call it impressive is putting it lightly. All 4 campaigns from the original game are represented here in an old style side-scrolling shooter, Contra style. You can either play it alone, or the game even offers a 2 player co-op mode as well with 2 levels of difficulty offered.  The only downfall is you have to have a PC to play, this is not simply a rom but a full game download. But the download is free and you can get it here. Checkout after the jump for some screen shots!

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Don Miller and all the other folks involved in West Philly’s 8static party took December off, and are making their triumphant return to Studio 34 this Saturday, January 9th.

After an incredibly successful effort to raise funds to support the monthly show, this month’s 8static features a great lineup, including Baron Knoxburry (from Ann Arbor) in his first ever Philly appearance, as well as Philadelphia’s own Cheap Dinosaurs, performing with a full band. SKGB will be opening the show, with No Carrier providing the visuals.

No Carrier will be debuting some brand new visuals, created using an Atari 2600.

To learn more about 8static and why you should be there, visit their official website at 8static.com.

January 2010′s 8static
Saturday, Jan 9th, 2009

8static
www.8static.com

When I heard they were coming out with a Lego app for the iPhone a photo app was not what I had in mind. But Lego Photo is an interesting app that will take any picture you take with the iPhone, or resides on your phone and turn it into a Lego masterpiece.

Being a shutterbug myself I honestly have to say I have downloaded at least 20 apps for playing with photos I take with my iPhone; and none of them have come close to the coolness that is the Lego app. The app is actually FREE, so download it and start making some really cool profile pics for Facebook or Twitter today. Get it here!

Last month’s Technically Philly meetup was a resounding success, and the boys are looking to repeat the tech themed booze fest, this time at Public House.

Stop by and meet fellow techies, have some drinks, swap business cards, and find out if Christopher Wink really can arm wrestle six people at once. Spoiler: He can.

It all goes down at Public House from 6pm to 9pm, this Wednesday, January 6th. You can RSVP here.

Tech Philly Meetup @ Public House
www.centercityphiladelphia.com/technology.htm

While I have to say I am not completely surprised, I am a little stunned that it happened this quickly. Avatar has hit the mighty billion-dollar mark. For a film made for an almost un-imaginable amount of money, to go on to make an even more mind-boggling amount this quickly; all I can say is James Cameron could say he was going to remake the Canonball Run with giant purple CG otters for $600 million and Fox would not only okay it; but resurrect Dom DeLuise from the grave to star in it.

To put this in a more human perspective, Avatar is the fourth highest grossing film of all time worldwide. Some say it might even beat The Dark Knight soon and even dare I say Titanic eventually, this is due to the fact the weekly grosses on Avatar only drop about 10% per week. To put this in perspective Sherlock Holmes dropped almost 40% its second week and that’s about average for a film, because most people see it opening weekend. This is where most of the films money is made.

Funny thing is most of Avatar’s bank is still coming from 3D and 3D IMAX ticket sales, which means people are experiencing the film (as it was intended) and getting back on the ride for another go round. So far I have seen it twice, once on opening day and last week on a Wednesday and both shows were packed, sold out and insane. Maybe when the holiday passes and all the kids with their disposable incomes are back in school the spell might be broken, but we will see. All I can say is there will most definitely be a sequel on the way and soon.

If you’re like me and grew up in the 80’s Space Battleship Yamato (or Star Blazers as it’s known here in the US) was your gateway drug into the wonderful world of anime and Japanese culture. I still fondly remember getting up early every morning to watch it before school. It was an oddity on morning television filled with licensed toy properties and sugary breakfast cereals commercials. Star Blazers was part soap opera and part Star Wars, and planted the seed that would eventually become the legitimacy of animation as a valid storytelling device for things that didn’t include talking animals and sing-a-longs. Not that I have anything against that.

Well the Japanese have finally debuted their first teaser trailer for the live action Yamato film which is due out in December in Japan and all I can say is, WOW! Takashi Yamazaki; whom you might know as the director of Returner is directing the film. For those of you who haven’t seen it, Returner it is a great little action film that pays quite a bit of homage to American sci-fi films and is really worth checking out. The film stars Takuya Kimura as Susumu Kodai (Derek Wildstar) and Meisa Kuroki as Yuki Mori (Nova). The story seems to be a basically retelling of the first season of the show, which is fine by me. I really can’t wait to see this and hopefully it will get a US release. Check out the official Japanese site here.

Welcome to Geekadelphia’s (usually) weekly discussion column, Cofffee Talk, where we talk about the finer issues and topics concerning video games, technology and all the other things you can’t talk about with your slightly-less-geeky friends. Have a question for us or a suggestion for a discussion topic? Send an email to geekadelphia@gmail.com or tweet with us. Follow me on Twitter if you’d like to keep this week’s discussion alive.

Say hello to the turn of the decade, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, 2010 is upon us and what better time to discuss what we’ve resolved to accomplish this year. While I have given up video games for 40 days and 40 nights before for Lent (I was a practicing Catholic at one time, you know), I’ve never been one to keep New Year’s resolutions. However, this year is going to be different. I promise.

The reason I’m so confident is because I chose a resolution that won’t be terribly difficult to keep: play more games. Wondering why I, one of Geekadelphia’s resident gamers, didn’t write up a “Best of 2009” list? I simply couldn’t fit them in aside from a few reviews (insert litany of excuses here), but this year — this year is going to be different. I swear.

I’m cutting back on the World of Warcraft to one night of raiding a week (gasp!) and I’ll be spending the ridiculous $85 for Nintendo to fix my broken Wii. Also, I hope to have a beefier PC and/or a current generation HD console by the summer time. It almost goes without saying that I am painfully behind this time around.

Now that you all know what I plan to accomplish in order to start another decade of gaming off with a bang, what will you be striving towards? While this is a site dedicated to all things geeky, feel free to disclose some less-than-dweebish resolutions like, I don’t know, getting a bit more sun? Share your resolutions with the rest of Philadelphia’s geeks for some surefire accountability!